Trust
by Don't.Let.Go.Of.The.Grass
Summary: She knew there would probably be hell to pay later, but she had decided the end result would be worth it. Sasuke would be able to kill his brother and finally be happy, and that was all she had ever wanted for him. Somewhat AU. R&R.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: DNON

Trust

* * *

Prologue:

_Pain wracked his body with his every movement—even _breathing_ hurt._

_It was all _his_ fault. That murderer. _He_ had done this to him._

_Where was Karin? Where were Juugo and Suigetsu?_

_For that matter, where was the sky? He was out in the open air; he could feel the breeze trailing over his skin like silk, hear the trees and grass shift restlessly from that same breeze. There was grass under him, pricking his bare back and neck._

_He opened his eyes_

_And screamed._

He_ had also taken the light._

Sasuke woke up, panting heavily, cold sweat covering his body and soaking his sheets.

_Only a dream…._ He told himself. It was only a dream. Itachi hadn't taken his eyes. He had tried, but somehow Sasuke had managed to avoid that fate.

He held his hand up in front of his face. It was still blurry, still out of focus. His vision was deteriorating more quickly than he'd thought it would after gaining the mangekyou sharingan.

He needed his eyes fixed, and quickly. Itachi still wasn't dead.

He wondered just how good of a medical shinobi Sakura had become in the six years he'd been gone.


	2. Long Time No See

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Trust

* * *

Chapter 1: Long time no see

_I years had been from home,_

_And now, before the door,_

_I dared not open, lest a face_

_I never saw before_

_Stare vacant into mine_

_And ask my business there_

_My business,—just a life I left,_

_Was such still dwelling there?_

_I fumbled at my nerve,_

_I scanned the windows near;_

_The silence like an ocean rolled,_

_And broke against my ear._

_I laughed a wooden laugh_

_That I should fear a door,_

_Who danger and the dead had faced,_

_But never quaked before._

_I fitted to the latch_

_My hand, with trembling care,_

_Lest back the awful door should spring,_

_And leave me standing there._

_I moved my fingers off_

_As cautiously as glass_

_And held my ears, and like a thief_

_Fled gasping from the house._

-Emily Dickinson

It was cloudy, Sasuke noted, seeing the change in lighting and the inky black thunderheads hiding the normally blue firmament only dimly. He swept his eyes uselessly over the circular city below him, which, despite the threat of a massive downpour, was still a bustling hub of activity.

His hand twitched restlessly on the hilt of the katana secured at his waist by a simple leather belt and the blood coating his hand stretched and cracked uncomfortably, already drying. He grimaced with displeasure and made a mental note to wash it off at the first opportunity.

Thunder growled, reminding him that he did _not_ want to be caught in the impending downpour, nor remain in place and be caught by the comrades of the man whose blood was all over his hand and arm and whose corpse was leaned against a tree not ten feet away, already attracting bugs.

He sighed, not relishing the thought of having to use a henge and search for Sakura in inclement weather but time was not on his side; he had to find her sooner rather than later. He performed the jutsu before he could talk himself out of this mad idea he had. He could only hope that she was still as in love with him now as the day he had left her on that bench.

Now disguised as a short, blind beggar wearing multiple layers of dingy clothing and wielding a walking staff, he left the dead man—and the bugs that had quickly discovered him—behind.

He would go to her apartment first, he decided, ducking quickly into a back alley to avoid a tall man wearing a green chunin vest, and go from there.

Sakura was finally useful to him.

* * *

Sakura carefully slid the window of the empty office open and scanned the ground below for people. Seeing no one, she perched on the sill, her sight set on the branch of the large sycamore that came within feet of poking through the window she was currently occupying. She listened for voices and footsteps, and, hearing neither, gathered some of her pale green chakra to her feet to help her make the jump.

She sprang, one hand outstretched to grip the tree limb when—

"Sakura!"

Sakura faltered, her hand swiped at air, and she found herself falling—suddenly she remembered what a very long drop forty feet could be and waited for her life to flash before her eyes—until another hand grabbed hers and yanked her into the tree she'd been aiming for in the first place.

"Naruto!" she yelled, once she was sure she hadn't suffered some sort of miniature heart attack. "Don't ever do that again! I could have died!"

Was her heart _supposed_ to be beating this quickly?

"Sorry." Naruto had the decency to look apologetic and rubbed the back of his head abashedly before remembering why he had come. "Oh yeah! Sai needs you on the village's outskirts; one of his Anbu was killed by an intruder."

"I have to do an autopsy?" Sakura groaned, massaging her temples wearily. The whole point of her sneaking out via the window had been to _avoid_ being detained by her friends and colleagues so she could go home and _sleep_. Apparently, Naruto had anticipated this and now sleep was out of the question.

"Sorry." Naruto repeated. "It's urgent so Shikamaru told me to wait for you here."

So it was _Shikamaru's_ fault she wasn't heading home to sleep right now. She should have known. Naruto would never have guessed where she'd go after her shift was done. In that case, Shikamaru was going to find every single one of his naps for the next _month_ interrupted.

"All right, take me there." she sighed, resigning herself to a few more hours' work, and followed Naruto.

* * *

Sakura wasn't at the apartment her old neighbor, Tsuki, had directed him to, and that meant he'd have to wait for her at the hospital like some kind of deranged stalker.

What a mess…

He could just picture Suigetsu's smug sneer. "What? The mighty Sasuke Uchiha having trouble finding one little kunoichi? You've lost your touch. It took less time to find Itachi."

Karin would butt in at this point. "Don't you dare insult Sasuke!" she'd screech, his cheerleader to the end. "He's a better shinobi than you will ever be!"

"In your dreams, maybe." Suigetsu would say, just to incense her. He'd put on a high falsetto voice to imitate Karin, "Oh, Sasuke, you're so great, please make love to me because I'm a desperate bitch!"

Karin would be beside herself with rage, torn between boosting Sasuke's ego and wanting to rip Suigetsu's head off for not showing proper respect for the person who had saved them from Orochimaru.

Juugo would just give him a shy smile and tell him that he would find her; he'd ask the birds to help.

He grimaced at the thought of his former comrades.

At least they were dead now, right? No more listening to Suigetsu bitch and moan. No more calming Juugo down when he went ballistic. No more Karin fawning over him and arguing incessantly with Suigetsu, who seemed to go out of his way to say or do things that would set her off.

He sighed, loneliness closing in around him. It was Itachi's fault he was here, really. His and Kisame's.

Several people in the street below screamed in shock as the loudest crack of thunder yet sounded and the first raindrop of what was sure to be many fell and hit his forehead, reminding him to get a move on.

He was gone once more in the few seconds before the heavens unleashed their load.

* * *

"Ugh, I so don't want to go home in that." Sakura said, narrowing her eyes at the curtain of rain beyond the hospital cafeteria's windows. Of _course_ it had decided to pour buckets just as she finished the autopsy and was about to head home. Was God _trying_ to keep her away from home and her nice, soft bed?

"I don't blame you." Ino said sympathetically, also watching the fat raindrops pound into the ground and create silvery lakes in the grass; she wasn't worried about the rain because she was on break and her shift wouldn't be over until dawn.

Sakura sighed, trying to figure out a way to get home _dry._ Nothing came to mind. "Looks like I'm sleeping on my office couch again." She was saying it to convince herself it was better than getting soaked to the bone going to her apartment, and also to see how her best friend would react.

"Not again!" Ino said, right on cue. "When was the last time you slept in your own apartment?"

Sakura resisted the urge to tell Ino that it would have been that day had it not been for Ino's old teammate Shikamaru, and decided to hazard a guess at how long it had really been. "Um. About a week ago?"

No, it had been longer than that; she knew for certain because she had an entire drawer of one of her many filing cabinets full of clean clothes.

"Uh-Uh. Your landlord's been asking if you've moved out because you haven't been home for a _month_."

"Okay, so I was off by a few weeks, big deal."

Ino rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You are so _clueless_. I always thought your sleep-deprived state was because of—" Here Ino lowered her voice conspiratorially, "—_you know_—and it turns out you've been sleeping on a lumpy old couch in your office!" Ino took a sip of her tea and allowed her eyes to wander the cafeteria while she waited for Sakura to concoct a good response. There weren't many others in the cafeteria at this time, only a hot intern she knew had a huge crush on Hinata Hyuuga, a patient who had probably escaped his room as he was still wearing his hospital gown, and a young medical shinobi she'd never seen before but who looked vaguely familiar and was dumping his plate.

"Okay, first off," Sakura had finally found her voice, "that couch is _not_ lumpy, it's just got bad springs—"

"That make it lumpy." Ino said, watching the medical shinobi exit the room.

"_Second_," Sakura said, glaring at Ino. "What the hell is _you know_ supposed to…oh." Sakura slowed to a halt as she finally got the innuendo. "Oh, that is just—keep your head out of the gutter!"

"Slow much?" Ino teased.

"Oh, shut up, Blondie." Sakura muttered mutinously.

"Is that a stab at blondes?" Ino raised one eyebrow. "You're hardly one to talk, pinky."

Sakura made a face. "I'm done," she stood, her chair's metal legs scraping the tiled floor with a deafening screech. "See you tomorrow."

"Sleep well!" Ino called after her retreating back, laughing. Sakura flipped her off, heading for the elevator that would take her to her office on the third floor. Any other time, and she'd have taken the stairs, but it had been a _very_ long day what with the autopsy and the near death experience, and her couch was dutifully waiting for her in her office.

When she flipped the light switch in her office, she expected the room to flood with light, not remain dark. She supposed the power had gone out, and cursed as she stumbled across the room to her couch and flopped down, expecting lumpy cushions not bony legs attached to a person who was very much alive.

"Hello, Sakura. Long time no see."

* * *

A/N: I'm alive, I swear! There is now a prologue, so go back and read that, then come back and reread this. Or just go back and read the prologue and not reread this at all. Review please!


	3. Or I Wouldn't Be Here

Disclaimer: DNON

Trust

* * *

Chapter Two: Or I Wouldn't Be Here

"_The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him." _~Henry L. Stimson

Sakura screamed and rolled off the couch in surprise. Her visitor remained where he was as she scrambled to her feet and squinted in his general direction.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you doing here?"

Her visitor stood, creating a very tall black silhouette against her windows which were illuminated only briefly by the occasional fork of lightning preceding a clap of thunder.

Sakura studied him intently. Something about his voice, the way he stood and moved was familiar to her. He had not answered yet, but a voice deep within the recesses of her mind—_not_ Inner Sakura—was screaming, "Leave! Leave!" at the top of its tiny lungs.

"I'm here for a favor." The man finally said.

Something niggled at her and suddenly she recalled that night—the night her crush had left the village after thanking her and unceremoniously knocking her out. He'd left her on a bench in the middle of the night, where anything could have happened to her.

"Sasuke!" she gasped, finally realizing who her visitor was. She stumbled backward and landed on her desk with a squeak of surprise.

Sasuke's hand was suddenly on her mouth, his firm body pressing her soft one against the hard surface of the desk, effectively pinning her.

She pushed at his chest, but it was an exercise in futility; Sasuke was much stronger than she was, especially with her chakra so low, and she could tell he was deliberately using as little of his strength as he dared. He wanted her to know it, too.

"Not so fast." Sasuke said, his voice demanding that she stay and listen. He took his hand off her mouth and used it to hold her wrist instead. "I have a favor to ask, and you'll do it."

Six years ago, she would have given anything to hear those words coming out of his mouth, but this was not six years ago, this was _now_ and she was no longer the Sasuke-obsessed preteen she had been. She was older, tougher, a kunoichi to rival her mentor, one of the three strongest shinobi ever to exist and hearing him say those words in such an arrogant tone just pissed. Her. Off.

"The answer's 'no', Sasuke." She growled, focusing what little chakra she had left to her free hand and aimed her fist for his chest. In a motion too quick for her to see, Sasuke grabbed her other wrist.

"That was an interesting technique." He said. "It would have been more interesting to _see_, but that brings me to why I'm here: I want you to heal my eyes."

Sakura frowned. _What_ had he just said?

"Your… eyes." She repeated slowly, squinting at him again and wondering if it was a trick.

Sasuke sighed impatiently, just as he had when he was still a Konoha shinobi and a member of Team 7. "_Yes,_ my _eyes._ I'm blind and I want them fixed. I don't trust anyone else." His grip on her wrists tightened, just enough to be uncomfortable.

"What happened to your little posse? Your replacement team? Don't you trust _them?_"

She had struck a nerve; Sasuke's hands were now wrapped around her wrists so tightly she couldn't tell where he ended and she began.

"They're dead." He ground out. The 'Or I wouldn't be here', didn't need to be said. It was understood by both of them.

"I see." Sakura said. "The redhead isn't around any more so you have to settle for weak little Sakura." She didn't know where the words were coming from, but she knew they were true, otherwise, why would Sasuke's grip be loosening, his shoulders slumping?

"That's not—" he began, but Sakura cut him off.

"That is _exactly_ how it is." She said. "We have always been your second choice and you know it."

Sasuke released her suddenly and straightened, raising his chin, obviously trying to regain some of the confidence he'd begun with. "Of all the people I expected to hate me if I returned," he began in his most offended tone, "you were never one."

Sakura was taken aback, but tried not to show it. "You're not returning, Sasuke." Sakura rubbed her wrists gingerly, knowing they were sure to bruise now, "You just came back for a spell to get what you wanted." She crossed her arms. "And you're wrong. I don't hate you. I _should_ but I don't. Now. Tell me why I should heal your eyes for you and let you go on your merry way."

Silence, then:

"I don't know."

"Bullshit. You have a reason for everything. Is it your brother again?" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yes."

"Sasuke, this has to _stop._" Sakura told him. "Revenge is not the answer, especially when they're family!"

"You don't understand." Sasuke said, seating himself on her couch and resting his face in his hands. He looked utterly defeated.

"Then _help_ me to understand! Trust me enough to let me help you!" Frustration was gnawing at her already tired mind. She was sick of not being able to help her teammates, especially the one sitting right in front of her. A knot was rising in her throat, making her voice thick and quavery. She blinked hard, knowing the tears were coming, not wanting to show her weakness in front of him.

"I _can't_." Sasuke's voice was lower, softer, almost pleading with her to stop.

"Bullshit!" Sakura repeated. "Bullshit, Sasuke, bullshit!" She wanted to punch him, to send him flying into the next room, to scream at him for being such a monumentally immature idiot. "You can and you know it. You're just afraid."

"He fucking betrayed me, Sakura!" Sasuke yelled. "He was my brother! The person I trusted the most!"

"Then how do you think _I_ felt when I realized you'd left me behind again? Too weak to come along with you while you got stronger? I trusted _you_, Sasuke, and you left me behind like a piece of trash."

Sasuke looked up at her.

"You never realized, did you? That you were doing the same thing your brother had done?"

"No."

"I'll do it." Sakura said, hardly believing she was actually saying it. She was putting her trust in the one who had betrayed it and was in turn betraying her village to help the man she was still inexplicably in love with. She knew there would probably be hell to pay later, but she had decided the end result would be worth it. Sasuke would be able to kill his brother and finally be happy, and that was all she had ever wanted for him.

"Thank you."

"Show your thanks by learning to trust again, stupid." Sakura said.

* * *

A/N: I was trying not to be too fluffy and I think I failed epically. Ugh. Now I think they're OOC too. God.

Reviews will help speed the next chapter along, I promise.


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